Field Hockey

Field Hockey Gears Up For NCAA Division II National Semi-Final Round Clash With UMass Lowell, "Battle Of The Birds" Set For Friday Afternoon At Shippensburg

November 9, 2005

2005 Stonehill College Field Hockey

2005 NCAA Division II National Semi-Finals

Game #22: Stonehill (19-2) vs. UMass Lowell (18-3)

Friday, November 11, 2005

Robb Sports Complex, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

2:00 p.m. EST

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR: Stonehill continues its quest for the 2005 NCAA Division II national championship this afternoon as the second-seeded Skyhawks tangle with the top-seeded UMass Lowell River Hawks in North Region national semi-final play. Stonehill, making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Field Hockey Championships, advanced to todays contest by posting a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Bentley in the North Region national quarterfinal round played last Saturday afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium. Sophomore Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln), who earned Most Valuable Player honors in the Northeast-10 Conference championships, provided the heroics once again for the Skyhawks in Stonehills fourth victory of the season over Bentley, as she converted a pass from 2005 Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) with 13:03 remaining in the match for the game-winner. Sophomore Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass./Tantasqua) picked up her 19th win of the season and 10th shutout triumph of the year in goal for Stonehill with a three-save effort, as the Skyhawks claimed their third shutout win of the season over the 2004 NCAA national runner-up Falcons. UMass Lowell, making its third straight appearance in the NCAA Division II national championships, has been idle since dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to Stonehill in the Northeast-10 championship match on October 30th at Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass., as that setback snapped the River Hawks school-record 16-match winning streak.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) was named on Monday as the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week for the second straight week for her efforts in Stonehills 1-0 victory over Bentley in last Saturdays NCAA North Region national quarterfinal. Boulis netted her second straight game-winning tally in post-season play by scoring the golden goal with 13:08 remaining that lifted the Skyhawks to a berth in the national semi-finals.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: 2005 Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Year Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) was named on Monday as the Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week for her efforts in Stonehills 1-0 triumph over Bentley in the NCAA North Region national quarterfinals, as she assisted on the game-winning goal.

GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass./Tantasqua) was named on Monday as the Northeast-10 Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for the second straight week and for the sixth time this season for her efforts in Stonehills first-ever NCAA championships contest, as she made three saves to pick up her 10th shutout of the season in the 1-0 North Region national quarterfinal win over Bentley.

LAST MEETING: Stonehill and UMass Lowell last met on October 30th in the 2005 Northeast-10 championship match at Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass., and the Skyhawks posted a 2-1 overtime victory over the River Hawks. Tournament Most Valuable Player Aly Boulis netted the game-winner 13:08 into the extra session on a feed from junior All-America Kelly Latendresse (Sidney, Maine/Messalonskee) after an apparent game-winning goal by UMass Lowell was disallowed in early in the overtime period due to an administrative timing error by the on-field game officials. Stonehill had taken an early 1-0 first half lead when sophomore Catlin Gleason (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) tallied on a Latendresse assist 4:49 into the match, but the River Hawks evened matters on a penalty stroke in the 18th minute of play, setting up Bouliss heroics. Dani Ryder made nine saves to pick up the win in goal for the Skyhawks, including six in the opening half.

Stonehill 2, UMass Lowell 1 (OT)

2005 Northeast-10 Conference Championship

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Cushing Field, Lowell, Massachusetts

12OTTotal

Stonehill (18-2)101- 2

UMass Lowell (18-3)100- 1

SCORING SUMMARY

STO:Caitlin Gleason (Kelly Latendresse)4:49 1st

UML:Taylor Kloss (PENALTY STROKE)18:11 1st

STO:Aly Boulis (Latendresse)83:08 OT

GOALIE SAVES

STO:Dani Ryder9

UML:Nicole Staiti8

THE SEASON SERIES: Todays NCAA national semi-final contest marks the third meeting of the 2005 season between Stonehill and UMass Lowell, and the two teams have split their previous two match-ups, as the River Hawks handed the Skyhawks their last setback with a 3-2 decision on September 14th at Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass. Caitlin Gleason and Kerri Sullivan each tallied in that setback for Stonehill, which received a combined four saves in goal from Dani Ryder and freshman Sara Piper (Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Todays match marks the 14th meeting between Stonehill and UMass Lowell, and Skyhawks hold a slim 7-6 edge over the River Hawks in the all-time series between the two schools. Stonehill had won five straight meetings from October 2000 through October 2003, but UMass Lowell had taken the next three match-ups prior to the October 30th Northeast-10 championship win by the Skyhawks. The last meeting between the two schools was their first-ever match in post-season play.

STONEHILL IN POST-SEASON PLAY: Todays match will be Stonehills 15th in post-season play since the programs inception in 1996, and the Skyhawks have notched a 5-9 mark in their previous 14 post-season contests. After entering the 2005 post-season with just two wins in 11 previous Northeast-10 and ECAC Division II matches dating back to 1998, Stonehill has amassed three post-season triumphs to date in advancing to the NCAA national semi-finals, including a pair of victories over Bentley in the Northeast-10 semi-finals and NCAA North Region national quarterfinals. The Skyhawks two other post-season wins came in the 2001 Northeast-10 quarterfinals against Franklin Pierce and in the 2002 ECAC Division II semi-finals against LIU-C.W. Post, as Stonehill fell in the ECAC championship round that season to East Stroudsburg.

THE SKYHAWKS: Gleason leads Stonehill in scoring with 13 goals and six assists for 32 points, while Latendresse has added nine goals and 13 assists for 31 points. Boulis follows with 11 goals and five assists for 27 points, while senior co-captain Julie Michalos (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) has notched seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Ryder has recorded a school-record 19 wins in goal for Stonehill with a league-leading 0.78 goals against average, as she has made 72 saves for an .818 saves percentage to go with 10 shutouts.

THE RIVER HAWKS: Junior Sara Hohenberger leads UMass Lowell in scoring with 23 goals and 12 assists for 58 points, while senior Courtney Hill follows with 10 goals and 13 assists for 33 points. Senior Joanna DaLuze, the 2005 Northeast-10 Co-Player of the Year, follows with seven goals and six assists for 20 points, while senior Taylor Kloss has 10 goals for 20 points. Junior Nicole Staiti is 18-3 in goal for the River Hawks with a 1.13 goals against average, having made 65 saves for a .730 saves percentage.

HEAD COACH PAM ARPE: Pam Arpe is in her sixth season as Head Field Hockey Coach at Stonehill College. A 1972 graduate of Principia (Ill.), Arpe ranks as the winningest coach in school history and has guided the the Skyhawks to an overall mark of 80-42 (.656) during her tenure, as she picked up her 80th career triumph in last Saturdays NCAA North Region national quarterfinal triumph over Bentley. Arpe, who is assisted by her daughter Amanda (William Smith 03), is 6-3 during her career against UMass Lowell.

HEAD COACH SHANNON HLEBICHUK: Shannon Hlebichuk is in her fourth season as Head Field Hockey Coach at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. A 1998 UMass Lowell graduate, Hlebichuk has guided her alma mater to an overall mark of 61-22 (.735) during her tenure with back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament, and she is assisted by Erin Stewart, Kerry Dudley and Leigh Shea. Hlebichuk is 3-4 during her career against Stonehill.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Stonehill enters todays NCAA national semi-final match with more victories (19) than goals allowed (16) to date. Senior co-captain Lindsay Breen (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) and junior Courtney Campbell (Reading, Mass./Reading) pace a Stonehill defensive unit that has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 19 of their 21 matches to date with 10 shutouts.

POLL POSITION: Stonehill climbed to the fourth position in the final STX/NFHCA Division II national poll last week, tying the highest mark that the Skyhawks have been ranked nationally. Stonehill has been ranked in the Division II poll in 40 of the last 46 ranking periods dating back to 2001. UMass Lowell enters todays match ranked third in the final STX/NFHCA Division II poll.

SKYHAWK TALK: Stonehill is the new kid on the block at this years NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, as UMass Lowell, three-time defending national champion Bloomsburg and host Shippensburg all participated in last years national championshipsThree of Stonehills four wins over Bentley came via shutout, as the Skyhawks were the only team in the nation to blank Bentley during the yearStonehills October 6th win at Bentley snapped the Falcons 17-match regular season winning streak that dated back to September 2004. The Skyhawks have now won five of the last eight match-ups with Bentley dating back to 2003 Four Stonehill players have been honored as Northeast-10 Player of the Week in five of the last six weeks: Kelly Latendresse, Caitlin Gleason, sophomore Colleen McLaughlin (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) and Aly Boulis, who was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Northeast-10 ChampionshipsDani Ryder has been named as the Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Week on six occasions during the season, as she has recorded 32 career victories, 19 via shutout Field Hockey became the 10th Stonehill program to earn a Northeast-10 post-season crown, joining mens & womens cross country, mens & womens soccer, mens & womens basketball, baseball, womens lacrosse and womens tennis in that distinctionField Hockey is also the third Stonehill program to advance to the NCAA national semi-finals, joining womens basketball (1995) and womens lacrosse (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005)Stonehill and Bloomsburg are the only two teams in NCAA history to send teams to both the field hockey and womens lacrosse national semi-finals in the same season. The Skyhawks captured the 2005 NCAA lacrosse title last May at West Chester, while the Huskies advanced to the semi-finals in both sports in 2003Michalos and Latendresse each earned spots on the 2005 Northeast-10 Field Hockey Academic All-Conference squad, as Michalos was honored for a second straight season with the selectionSullivan becomes the third Skyhawk to earn Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year accolades, joining Erica Marois (2001) and Cindy Pultz (2000) in copping the honor.

WHOS NEXT: The winner of todays Stonehill-UMass Lowell North Region national semi-final advances to the 2005 NCAA Division II Field Hockey national championship match on Sunday, November 13th here at Shippensburgs Robb Sports Complex beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST. The second national semi-final contest pits South Region top-seed Shippensburg (20-2) against three-time defending NCAA champion and second-seeded Bloomsburg (18-4).